Low back pain is a common condition and one of the most frequent causes of disability in Western societies. The pain emerges from the lumbar region of the spine and slightly below (shown in red in the first image.) Patients who have had an imaging study of their spine (x-ray or MRI) learn that the location is usually around vertebrae L4/L5/S1. This is not MY back pain! I have an unstable sacroiliac joint (commonly called SI joint.) The sacrum is a shield shaped structure the size of a hand at the lower end of the spine. It consists of what were once separate vertebrae that have fused througho ..read more

‘I have always wondered, what I should do with my pelvis.’ ‘I stood there for hours with my pelvis pushed forward.’ These are just two comments, made by students, who are aware of their confusion around their pelvis. Most of us are much less cognizant of our underlying patterns around this central structure in our skeleton.   The pelvis is a big bony structure right in the center of our upright body. It forms the base of the spine and is the counterpoint to the head. Head and pelvis are two heavy structures at opposite ends of the spine. Misuse at either end, can influence the healthy cu ..read more

“My technique is based on inhibition, the inhibition of undesirable, unwanted responses to stimuli, and hence it is primarily a technique for the development of the control of human reaction.” The Universal Constant in Living by F. Matthias Alexander (Mouritz, 2000). Awareness of and changing one’s reaction to stimuli is a core concept of the Alexander Technique. And to me, being an Alexander teacher is ideally not very different from being a person who wants to wish right, think right and do right. I aim to show up to life’s challenges as a whole person. And, albeit often relucta ..read more

1. It is 2003 and I have my first Alexander lesson with a dear motherly teacher, who I know and whom I love to this day. While I am lying on my back on the table, my teacher takes my right arm and guides it away from my body, supporting it with her two hands, releasing some of its holding patterns. Suddenly I am flooded with a memory, me as a four or five-year-old, on my back, both arms in plastic braces, tied to the crib, preventing me from bending my elbows, or turning over to either side.  I feel moved to share this emotional content with my Alexander teacher. After a brief and conside ..read more

My father used to say ‘I am not tired, I just need oxygen.’ Was he right? Why do we yawn? What are your theories about yawning?  My personal interest in the phenomenon of yawning goes back to years in vocal rehabilitation as a voice therapist. Almost all vocal hygiene techniques suggest the benefits of pretend-yawning during vocalization. The goal is to enlarge the vocal tract in order to create room for the voice to resonate.  The practice also serves to coordinate the whole system, from palate to vocal cords to diaphragm, to engage with increased muscular tone, because you can ..read more

Not long ago I sat at my desk, talking with a colleague on FaceTime, we were preparing a workshop in weekly meetings. Suddenly I hear close by an unusual sound as if something was sliding. Despite a somewhat unreliable memory when we are under stress, I will try to summarize how I remember my reactions that must have all occurred within seconds. I am pretty certain that I made a sound, because my colleague asked immediately – are you alright? With some alert tension, I rose up from my chair and looked to the corner from which the sound came. I remember being in a half standing, slightly crouch ..read more

 The Core as Concept Everyone who has ever been in an exercise class or watched a program on back pain or read an article on back injury has come across references to “the core” and heard expressions like “pull your core in” or “engage your core muscles.” What do youthink when ‘the core’ is mentioned, what is your association? My experience is that most people think it has to do with their abdominal muscles. We probably do all something different, when we ‘engage with our core’, because neither the anatomy of the area nor the degree of engagement are explained to us wh ..read more

On My Way – Two Long Distance Walks On Ancient European Pilgrim Routes First published in AmSAT Journal / Spring 2018 / Issue No. 13 www.AmSATonline.org 41 History of the Road to Santiago                                                                                                             Santiago de Compostela, Sp ..read more

  Epoxy Sculpture by Michaela, 2015   Occasionally I remember how much I would have liked my mother to compliment me more about my appearance, as I was growing through childhood and teenage years into my adult body. Like many of us, women and men alike, our body image was problematic as we grew up. The idea that we are ‘fat’ for example can stay with us throughout life, despite all proofs to the contrary, like shape and weight changes, a good health record or the love we receive – just as we are. Today I find it amusing that I supposedly had ‘chive curls’ (short for straight hair ..read more

Julia Child (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University) In preparation for a recent road trip I picked up the Audio CD of Julia Child’s book “My Life in France”. Since the art of French cooking has always seemed daunting to me, I never even opened one of Julia’s cookbooks in a store or a friend’s kitchen. All I knew was that she discovered food late in life and that she brought French cooking to America. What I learned in my audio book about this woman astounded me. She repeated and practiced recipes over and over again, when she went to cooking school, and later, whe ..read more